


years

by harinezumi_kun



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-19
Updated: 2010-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-05 17:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harinezumi_kun/pseuds/harinezumi_kun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ohno counts it in years, too</p>
            </blockquote>





	years

Ohno steps soundlessly through the doorway and takes in the scene in an instant: Nino, slouched in his chair at the make-up table, head back and eyes closed, exhaustion in every line of his body; and Jun, seated next to Nino, facing the door. His legs are crossed at the knee, and his pose is intent. Jun catches Ohno’s eye when he enters, making a quick, commanding motion—his hand barely lifts from his knee, palm out, _Stop_. Then, the tiniest tip of his head in Nino’s direction, _Listen_. And then he asks, in a tone that lets Ohno know this is part of a much longer discussion:

“But what about Leader?”

Nino sighs, becomes even smaller. “I love him. I’m in love with him. You know that.”

“How long?” Jun pushes gently, and his eyes go back to Ohno.

“Since…I don’t know. A long time. Years. Is there a point to this?”

Nino raises his head, then, opens his eyes to look at Jun and follows Jun’s gaze to the door and Ohno, who is still standing there without any air left to breathe.

Jun stands, and Nino’s head whips around back to the younger man.

“Jun!” he hisses, and the word is weighted with anger, betrayal, and just a touch of fear.

“It’s time,” is all Jun says, crossing to the door. “Now you can both work this out, one way or another.”

This last seems directed at Ohno, and Jun looks at him with gentle, apologetic eyes. He steps behind Ohno and guides him the rest of the way through the door. Ohno stumbles forward, having forgotten that he has legs, and two feet on the ground. The door closes with a soft click, and Ohno imagines that Jun is standing guard on the other side.

Nino isn’t looking at Ohno, but instead at the door, and plans for escape are bright in his eyes. It is so quiet in the room that everything is loud—their breathing, Ohno’s slow and Nino’s fast, the buzzing florescent lights, humming ventilation, and far away footsteps and voices on the other side of the door. Nino stands, suddenly, making to gather up his things, but the movement jars Ohno from his trance. When Nino starts towards the door, Ohno straightens, squaring his shoulders, and Nino reacts immediately, like a wall has slammed down in front of him, knowing he won’t get out of the room without a confrontation.

At first, Nino looks everywhere but at Ohno—at the floor, at the mirror, at the empty drink can on the low coffee table—but Ohno is patient, and stubborn, and he waits, he makes Nino look at him. And they stare at each other for a long time. So much of what they say is without words, and Ohno can read _I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry_ in every part of Nino’s face. But it’s not enough, this time, to just be sorry.

“Years?” Ohno says finally, and he knows that Nino knows that he’s angry by the way the younger man flinches, just a little, just a flicker of eyes and twist of lips. 

“I—” Nino begins, then again: “You—” but finally, “How could I tell you that?”

“How could you _not_?” Ohno counters, and his body jerks with emotion that has nowhere to go but out.

Because from the beginning they’ve had their strange, unconscious understanding of one another, and Nino knows—has known—that Ohno counts it in years, too. How many years, now, since then?

_—The kiss was brief and chaste and laced with a hint of alcohol, for courage. Ohno pulled back from it with trembling limbs. And Nino just said “Oh-chan”, in a soft uncomfortable cadence, and Ohno knew. And he just said, “It’s okay, forget it happened.”—_

And now, this. 

“I thought…you’d be over me by now,” Nino says lamely, and they both know it’s a lie, so he quickly changes tacks. “Anyway, it wouldn’t work out. It’d be too hard, hiding it all the time, and I’m no good for you, you know, I’m—”

“Shut up,” Ohno almost shouts. His hands are clenched at his sides, and the words come rushing out of him like a rip-tide. “No excuses, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care if it’s hard, or if you’re mean or lazy or difficult—if I cared about any of that I would’ve given up on you a long time ago. You know that. But you never told me.”

“So I’m a coward, too, alright?” Nino yells right back, so stiff he looks like he might crack right down the middle. His voice trembles and drops, “I was scared. I couldn’t—if I ever hurt you, if I lost you, I just—”

“Enough,” Ohno says suddenly, marching forward and closing the space between them in three long strides. 

Nino jerks again, and Ohno knows he must still look like he wants to grab Nino and shake some sense into him, but he doesn’t. He stops just before they can collide, hands raised to Nino’s face, but hovering millimeters away. Slowly, Ohno lets his fingers alight, only just touching, and presses their foreheads together. The air between them is filled with crossfire heartbeats and warm breath, and Ohno watches Nino for a few long moments. He can feel the crease in Nino’s brow against his own forehead, and moves his head back and forth a little, trying to smooth it out.

Nino’s eyes are closed, have been since Ohno touched him, but as Ohno watches they slide open again. Nino swallows, his lips part on a shaky exhale, and his expression is so lost and _in love._

“Enough,” Ohno murmurs. 

He dips his head down and closes those last inches of distance. Nino makes a tiny noise—of protest, or acceptance, or maybe both.

This kiss does not disappoint—it is immediate and electric and this time Ohno is allowed to push. He pushes into Nino’s space, into his mouth, pushes the other man back until Nino is seated clumsily on the make-up table. Nino’s hands are fisted in the back of Ohno’s shirt, and his legs are starting to creep up around Ohno’s waist, pulling him in. Dimly, distantly, Ohno is aware that they are in a shared dressing room, that they should really stop, but he knows that Nino is still waiting for a way out. Despite everything, he’ll probably run, if he can.

Ohno moves his attentions to Nino’s neck, then speaks into Nino’s ear.

“We’re going to try,” he tells him, and when Nino stiffens like he might pull away: “No, dammit—we’re going to try. What changes, really?”

“Besides everything?” Nino says, but it’s on a breathy laugh that changes into a whimper when Ohno bites down on his earlobe.

“Yeah,” Ohno works his way back around to Nino’s mouth for another kiss. “Besides that.”

Another long kiss, and Ohno can feel Nino going soft, giving in. Their lips part, and Nino breaths out, slow, eyes fluttering.

“Besides that,” he murmurs, still speaking against Ohno’s mouth. “Mmm, well…we’d probably have a lot more sex.”

“Mm,” Ohno agrees. His hands grip Nino’s shoulders just a little harder. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

Nino just smiles and tries to move in for another kiss, but Ohno stops him. 

“Well?”

Nino pouts for a moment, always hesitant to be pinned down, but eventually huffs out a “Fine!”

“Good,” Ohno says with a smile of his own. He starts to lean in again to pick up where they left off.

Then Nino’s butt starts vibrating.

They jerk apart in surprise, then Ohno starts to grin as Nino fishes around in his back pocket.

“Is that a phone in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” Ohno asks, receiving a cuff to the head for his trouble.

“Keep that up and I’ll break up with you right now,” Nino threatens, flipping open his cellphone. “Hello?”

“ARE YOU GUYS MAKING OUT IN THERE?”

Nino flinches and holds the phone at arms length. 

“Dammit, Aiba, you don’t need to scream!” Nino yells back. “And it’s none of your business what we’re doing in here!”

“OH MY GOD THAT MEANS YES!”

And then the door bursts open and they are set upon by their over-enthusiastic bandmates, mostly Aiba and Sho. Jun hangs back a little, looking very pleased with himself.

Eventually Nino extricates himself, leaving Ohno to answer Aiba’s demands to hear all the dirty details, but over the clamor, Ohno thinks he hears Jun say:

“Now wasn’t that easy?”

And Nino’s response is, typically, a simple:

“Shut up.”


End file.
